{"id":702,"date":"2019-05-10T11:38:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2019-05-10T11:55:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:55:17","slug":"31-march-2019-fourth-sunday-of-lent-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"31 March 2019 Fourth Sunday of Lent (C)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theme of readings: Return to Christ and his Church, the\ninheritance that belongs to you.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading<\/em>\n(Joshua 5:9-12). The people of God keep\nthe Passover on their entry into the promised land.<\/em> Israel spent\nforty years in the wilderness, a barren land in which they had they manna as\nnourishment. They were now on their way to the possession of the land of Canaan, the land of promise, which had\nbeen promised to their fathers, Abraham and his children, as an inheritance.\nHaving crossed the Jordan\nthey had, in a sense, arrived at their destination. As God\u2019s covenanted people\nthey were required to have the sign of the covenant, which apparently they did\nnot have during the wilderness, and possibly in Egypt. Now with this new beginning\nin the promised land they underwent circumcision. The \u201cshame of Egypt\u201d,\npossibly meaning the absence of circumcision in that country, but also the\noppression and forced labour, had been removed from them as the Lord is\nreported as having said to Joshua. The next step was to celebrate the Passover,\nwhich they did in keeping with the rite laid down, with unleavened bread and\nroasted ears of corn. On eating from the produce of their new country, the\nmanna stopped falling. They were henceforward to feed from the produce of the\nland. For them the wilderness days were over. We know that for the new Israel, en\nroute through an earthly wilderness to the true land of promise, a new manna\nwill be provided, the Bread Life, Christ in his person and in the Eucharist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 33[34]). Taste and see\nthat the Lord is god.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading<\/em> (2 Corinthians 5:15-21). God reconciled us to himself through Christ.<\/em> To understand the\npresent reading better it is best situate it in its position in the opening\nchapters of this letter to the Corinthians. Paul is caught between two\nconcerns, that of his understanding of the new life in Christ, a \u201cnew creation\u201d,\nand the very humanly-minded problems within the Corinthian community, created\nin part by adversaries of his person and mission. There was tension between the\nCorinthian community, or this particular group within it, and Paul. He was\naccused of not being honest, or transparent in his words and actions. Paul pays\nattention to their position, but will not be distracted from his rich\npresentation of the Christian mystery, of the new covenant in Christ and the\ntransforming work of the Spirit. At one point, given their attitude towards\nhimself who had founded the Church there, he writes: \u201cDo we need, as some do,\nletters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of\nrecommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all; and you\nshow that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink\nbut with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets\nof human hearts\u201d (2 Corinthians 3:1-3). Paul stresses his central Christian\nbelief that with the resurrection of Christ a new world, a new creation, has\ncome. Paul may have once considered Christ \u201cfrom a human point of view\u201d\n(literally \u201caccording to the flesh\u201d), the \u201cJesus of history\u201d, as a person of\nthis world in all its limitations, condemned as a criminal. Paul\u2019s belief in\nChrist\u2019s resurrection has changed all this. He no longer regarded Christ or any\none from a human point of view (\u201caccording to the flesh\u201d). This is the\nbackground to the present reading. Union with\nthe risen Christ means a new creation; the old, without the marvels of grace or\nthe transforming work of the Spirit, has gone. Paul explains what he means. The\nnew creation through the death and resurrection of Christ means the forgiveness\nof sins and reconciliation between God and humans. Paul and the church are ambassadors\nof this message. Through him, and the church, God is calling for reconciliation\n\u2013 through admission of sin, and friendship in society, including the Corinthian\nchurch and Paul. God the Father made the sinless Christ to be a victim of sin\n(literally \u201cmade him into sin\u201d) that believers in him might be freed from sin\n(\u201cbecome the goodness of God\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gospel <\/em>(Luke\n15:1-3, 11-32). Your brother here was\ndead and has come to life. <\/em>The Gospel text read today is generally known as the\n\u201cParable of the Prodigal Son\u201d. Others in view of its ending prefer to call it\nthe \u201cParable of the Prodigal Father\u201d. It is informative to examine it in its\noriginal setting in Luke\u2019s Gospel, where it is the third of three parables told\nby Jesus to tax collectors and sinners<\/strong>. The tax\ncollectors most probably were toll collectors, on goods entering into Galilee\nat one of the designated entry points, such as Bethsaida. The sinners in question would\ndesignate a broad group who rejected, or were not over-observant of, the Jewish\nlaw and customs as understood by the Pharisees and learned scribes trained in\nJewish and civil law, and generally favourable to the Pharisee positions.<\/strong> Jesus\u2019\nknown familiarity and even meals with these toll collectors and sinners was\nstrongly objected to. To make clear his own, and the Father\u2019s,  position on this matter Jesus tells three\nparables, all having to do with \u201cthe lost and found\u201d and the joy in heaven\nafter the find. First there is the parable of the loss and finding of one sheep\nout of a hundred (Luke 15:3-8), the loss and finding of one coin out of ten\n(Luke 15:8-10), and finally our parable of the loss and finding of one son out\nof two, having many scholars today name it the parable of the lost (or: lost\nand found) son. The parable itself is more or less self explanatory. For\nreflection on it see below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue with\nQuestions of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return to\nChrist and his Church, the inheritance that belongs to you.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s liturgical readings present ample material for\nreflection. We can dwell on three- one on each of the readings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) It\u2019s a long long way from the Book of Joshua,\nfrom Gilgal, the eating of the fruits of the land and the New Testament and\ntoday\u2019s world. In one sense with  these\nevents the people of Israel had reached their promised land, \u201cpossessed the\nland\u201d at least in theory, the possession which could be  described in other  texts as \u201centering into their rest\u201d, or\nresting place, With the passage of time \u201cthe land\u201d became identical with the\ninheritance, and so it would be understood in the Beatitudes: \u201cBlessed are the\nmeek, for the shall possess the land\u201d (sometimes paraphrased as \u201cget the land\nfor inheritance\u201d, or \u201cinherit the earth\u201d). This rest, or resting place, this\ninheritance, remained something to look forward to, even for Christians, as\nthey listen to the voice of God, inheritance in Christian living on earth, and\nwith the blessed in eternity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) Shortly before retiring Pope Benedict XVI\nreminded Christ\u2019s followers in the modern age that the Church is in the world\nbut not of it. His words reflect Paul\u2019s message to the Corinthians of the\nsecond reading. The Church is a new creation. In faith matters it cannot be\nassessed by purely human standards. The media are interested in a limited range\nof Church matters, such as scandals, sex issues, weaknesses in Church\nadministration. Such media attention should not take believers from paying\nattention to the central message of Christian life and practice, such as the\nliving person of Christ, the Holy Spirit, God\u2019s grace, prayer, the sacraments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) Let\u2019s reflect on the parable in this day\u2019s readings.\nIt is a rich family, with two sons. When the younger requests his part of the\ninheritance, the father respects his independence and makes the division. The\nson may have abandoned his Jewish heritage. In any case he went into, or ends\nup, in pagan territory where swine were reared. After squandering his\ninheritance he repents, and sees that his original Jewish heritage was better.\nHis father is represented as anxiously awaiting his return and receives him\nback without conditions, and with joy. The elder son\u2019s reaction is humanly\nspeaking understandable, but is not that of a loving earthly, much less\nheavenly, Father. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                This\nparable of the Prodigal Son resonates with people of all generations. Today it\ncan be reflected on by persons who abandon the Church or Christianity, to\nreflect on their situation, and return to a loving and forgiving God, a God who\nis always on the look out for their return. The loving father laid down no\nconditions for return, but of course the prodigal had already repented. In\ntoday\u2019s Church and world, receiving the errant back with open arms, without\nconditions, is fine in theory but may present difficulties from a concerned\nsociety. Divine forgiving love and the realities of human existence have to be\nborne in mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following readingg\nfrom  year A of the three-year cycle may\nbe used as alternative readings<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.\nReflection & Dialogue:<\/em><\/strong> Jesus and the Church the light of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings).\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading<\/em> (1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13). David is anointed king of Israel. <\/em>This reading tells how\nGod chose the youthful David, son of Jesse, as king. He sent the prophet Samuel\nto anoint David. It is from the Hebrew word for \u201canoint\u201d, mashach <\/em>through the Greek that the word \u201cChrist\u201d (\u201canointed\u201d)\ncomes, while the Hebrew itself has given us the word Messiah. By a word from\nGod Samuel had already anointed Saul as king of the northern tribes of Israel,\nbut he failed as king and was set aside by God. This present reading stresses\nthat God freely chose David, not because of any particular physical traits on\nDavid\u2019s part. This anointing of David was really only a symbolic act which\nwould take effect only years later. David spent some time serving in Saul\u2019s\narmy before his own clan elected him as king of Judah. After the death of Saul he\nwas elected as king over the united kingdoms\nof Judah and Israel.\nGod made a covenant with David that his dynasty would last forever, and despite\nthe vicissitudes of history this faith and this hope led to the messianic\nexpectation which was fulfilled in Jesus. That anointing of the youthful David,\nson of Jesse, by Samuel gave rise to the age-long expectation for the coming of\nthe Son of David which will have its reply by Jesus, the Son of Man, who in\ntoday\u2019s gospel reading tells the man cured of his blindness concerning himself:\n\u201cHe is speaking to you\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial\nPsalm <\/em>(Psalm\n22[23]). The Lord is my shepherd; there\nis nothing I shall want.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second\nReading <\/em>(Ephesians\n5:8-14). Rise from the dead and Christ\nwill shine on you<\/em>. Jesus told his disciples that they were the salt of the\nearth and the light of the world. The early Church took these words of Jesus\nseriously, as is clear from the letters of Paul and the other New Testament\nwritings. This message of Christ was to be proclaimed both in the teaching and\nthe practise of Church life. Most of the early converts came from paganism, and\nthis, with its beliefs and practices, were regarded as darkness. This approach\nwas expressed in the rites of baptism which was presented as a passage from the\ndarkness of paganism to the light of the Gospel, or perhaps rather as union\nwith Christ who was the life and light. This new Christian life was to bear\nwitness to the world of the Gospel values, a new life that would show forth the\neffects of the Christian light, seen in complete goodness and right living and\ntruth. The implications of these principles would have been spelled out in the\ncatechesis with an indication of the virtues to be practiced and the vices and\nweaknesses to be avoided. There is stress on transparency. Christians should be\naware of the evils in the world on which the Gospel truths shed light, but, by\nimplication, also of the weaknesses and sins in the Christian community itself.\nAt the end of the reading there is a verse, or half-verse, most probably taken\nfrom an ancient Christian hymn, now lost, possibly a baptismal hymn. At baptism\nit would have been addressed to the new converts to awake from the sleep. or\nmetaphorically from the death, of their former life to the new Christian life\nenlightened by Christ. For Christians in their post-baptismal life, the hymn\ncould serve as a call to awaken from torpor to a new awakened life in the light\nof Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel <\/em>(John\n9:1-41). The blind man went off and\nwashed himself, and came away with his sight restored. <\/em>Today\u2019s Gospel\nreading is a lengthy one, in which there are different episodes, linked\ntogether by a central theme which is Christ as the light of the world. It is\ntaken from John\u2019s Gospel, and this evangelist tends to narrate at two levels,\nlinking an earthly episode with a religious interpretation. This was so in last\nSunday\u2019s reading about the Samaritan, the well of Jacob and the water of life\nthat Jesus would give to believers. The reading today is about the man born\nblind and Jesus as the light. In the mind of many in the time of Jesus (and\npossibly in that of some still today) physical deformity was seen to be caused\nby sin, whether of the parents, or of the sufferer, in this case of the child\nstill in the womb. Jesus denies that this was so, and says that in this case\nthe blindness is for the glory of God which will be revealed in the healing to\ncome. Jesus then gives give the theme of this episode in his words that as long\nas he is in the world he is the light of the world. It was thought at that time\nthat spittle had some medicinal qualities. In keeping with this Jesus mixes mud\nwith his saliva and put the paste over the blind man\u2019s eyes, without effecting\na cure. He tells the blind man to go to the well-known pool in Jerusalem called Siloam,\nwhere he would be healed. John is careful to point out that this name means\n\u201cSent\u201d, in Hebrew and Aramaic (from the verb shalach<\/em>). For John, of course, the real Siloam, \u201cSent\u201d, is Jesus,\nthe one sent by the Father. After the blind man was healed questions follow as\nto how it happened, questions among his neighbours and friends, then\namong the Pharisees, one of whose concerns was the Sabbath rest, apparently\nviolated by this healing which took place on a Sabbath. In all this the healed\nperson bore witness to Jesus who healed him, as a man of God, to whom God\nlistens. For him he was a prophet. The \u201cJews\u201d, that is the religious\nauthorities, then call in the parents of their healed son to get an\nexplanation, as to whether he was their son and if so how his sight was\nrestored. They affirm the first, but are wise enough to tell their questioners\nto ask their son himself with regard to the second, knowing (in John\u2019s telling)\nthat expulsion from the synagogue was decreed against anyone who professed\nfaith in Jesus. (In the early years of the Church in Judea\nthis was a reality.) The Jews next call on the man himself who was blind to\ngive his evidence. He bears glowing evidence to Jesus, which infuriates the\n\u201cJews\u201d who drove him away. Jesus heard of this and sought him out. When he\nfound him, Jesus presented himself to the man who had been blind as the Son of\nMan, asking if he believed in the Son of Man. On being informed by Jesus that\nhe himself was the Son of Man the cured man believed and worshipped Jesus. He\nwas the example of one who had come from physical and moral blindness to Faith\nin Jesus. The reading ends more or less as it began, with an affirmation by\nJesus that his coming into the world as light also brings judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.\nReflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>: Jesus and the Church the light of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Three clear points emerge from today\u2019s liturgy\nand readings and they give rich material for reflection on Christian life and\nour dialogue with the age in which we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

             The first is that Christ is the light of the\nworld. It is for this purpose that he has been sent into our world by his\nheavenly Father. He was \u201cthe One Sent\u201d, the Siloam, who cured the man born\nblind. He came so that the world might have a vision of the glory of the\nFather. That is clear from today\u2019s Gospel reading, and from many other places\nin the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The second point is that all this is\nnot just for the lifetime of Jesus on earth. He chose apostles and disciples so\nthat the Good News would be proclaimed to the ends of the earth, and to the end\nof time. The followers of Jesus are sent out to be the light of the world and\nthe salt of the earth. That is how the Church understood and preached the\nGospel from the beginning. The Church is the universal sacrament and mystery of\nsalvation in its teaching and in the lives of the faithful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            This takes us to the third point:\nthe dialogue of the Church with herself and with the world of our own day. The\nchurch must constantly renew herself, to live as the second reading calls for,\nfrom a Christian light that is seen in complete goodness and right living and\ntruth. Very often today when mention is made of Church renewal, renewal of\nchurch structures is what is intended, especially of the Vatican and its curia. While such\nreform is called for, where necessary, the renewal in keeping with today\u2019s\nreading is not quite that. Rather is this renewal in question a change in the\nminds and religious practices of the faithful in keeping with the Gospel\nmessage, to bear witness to Christ, the light, in the world in which we live. A\nmatter worth mentioning here in the question of dialogue with our age, but one\nnot to be developed here now, is that many moderns believe that what New\nTestament readings and Christians regard as light, are in their view darkness,\nold-fashioned views and practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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